Cytoplasmic polyadenylation is an evolutionarily
conserved mechanism regulating translational activation
of a set of quiescent maternal messenger RNAs (mRNAs)
during early development. Cytoplasmic poly(A) elongation
occurs in a wide range of species, ranging from clam to
mouse. The relevance of this process during late oogenesis
and early embryogenesis has been shown by studies in the
mouse, Xenopus, and Drosophila.
In mouse and Xenopus, the only vertebrates so far examined,
the ......